What We've Been Up To

Kris has been in Spain for almost 10 days for business. Kale and I have tried to stay busy, but finding exciting activities has been challenging. We have been playing with the dogs alot. Jonah is Kale's favorite friend. He is great with him. Kale's favorite new game is to give Joe his bone, then take it away and run somewhere in the house, while waiting for Jonah to follow. Then he gives it back and the whole process starts again.

Kale also enjoys laying on his back and letting the dogs sniff and lick him. He thinks it's hilarious! The dogs have been great babysitters for me while Kris has been away.

Playing the bone game.

The junk drawer is Kale's second favorite thing to play with. He loves pulling everything out and examining the items.

Chapstick! If Kale can find my chapstick, he carries it everywhere. He pretends to put it on himself and the dogs.

Kale also really enjoys figuring out how things work. He has my camera cord and he is trying to make it fit into the electrical outlet (don't worry we have baby proofed). He also likes to try to buckle his own carseat and remove the fan knob and make it fit back into the slot.

In other news, Kale has been very sick--probably the sickest he has ever been. He has hand, foot, and mouth disease (which is nothing like mad cow disease or hoof and mouth disease. My first reaction was "those damn dogs!") It just means he has blisters on the back of his throat and a rash has developed on his body--commonly the rash is on the soles of feet and the palms of hands, but so far he doesn't have that. There is not much we can do but wait it out, since it is a viral infection. By the way, he did go to the daycare for the first time on Friday and by Sunday night, he was sick....hummm-what does that tell you? His fever is finally down today and he has eaten and drank for the first time in 3 days. He slept relatively well last night too, which was a relief for me!

Tantrums

Kale has begun to throw tantrums when he doesn't get his way or if he gets told no. I am really unsure of how to deal with it...Kris is gone for 10 days to Spain. I think it's going to be a LONG 10 days for me!

Father's Day

For Father's Day, we went to church, had a nice nap, went to the park, and then had a good steak dinner.

3 generations!

We fed the ducks at the park. There were geese and ducks everywhere! It was fun to watch them fight over the bread. Kris accidentally threw a piece of bread on one goose's back. The other geese attacked him trying to get the bread. Poor Goose!

Kale loved the playground, particularly the slide!

A Visit from Grandma and Grandpa

Dick and Marilyn came to visit us from Iowa last week. Kale had lots of fun with all of the attention he got. We were on the go almost the whole time they were here so Kale got to get out of the house more than usual.

(Kris' dad, Dick, came down with Bell's Palsy about a week before he came to visit. He doesn't usually have a scowl on his face all of the time.)

Marilyn's brother, Gary, drove down from Oklahoma City.

We ate lots of good food! One morning we went for breakfast at a place where they have frozen mugs full of chocolate milk. Since chocolate milk is Dick's favorite, I think he really enjoyed the restaurant!

We also went to visit Palo Duro Canyon, which is just outside of Amarillo. It's the second largest Canyon in the United States.

While at the Canyon, we watched the musical drama, Texas and had a nice dinner. It was very windy though and our plates and drinks kept flying away.

Summer Plans

I have to admit, I was kind of dreading being home all summer...being a stay-at-home mom is hard work! However, so far the summer has been flying by fast and furiously. I am sure it will be time to go back to work before I know it! Kale has lots of activities he is enrolled in. I jokingly told Kris I needed to create a spreadsheet to keep track of everything. He has music class on Mondays, gymnastics on Wednesdays, and swim lessons starting on June 20th. The library has a cool program for babies called Laugh n Learn on Thursdays and Fridays. He naps twice a day (beautifully at this point!) for about 2 hours each time. Then, he goes to bed at 6:30 or 7:00. That's pretty much our day! We also have quite a few visitors/visits going on this summer. We were just in Poplar Bluff visiting my family; Kris' family arrives tomorrow for a weeklong visit. My brother and mom are coming to visit us at the beginning of July, then we leave to go to Iowa for our niece, Scarlett's, baptism in mid-July. Did I mention I am still working once a week or so?

In other news, I guess I will have to rename the blog since baby #2 is on the way. Any suggestions?

On the Go!

12 weeks

We have made it to the 12 week mark! My stomach is growing even more rapidly this time around. We will find out the gender at the end of July.

Grandma's 80th Birthday

My grandma recently celebrated her 80th birthday with a huge party! We had around 100 people who attended the celebration. Grandma had lots of fun visiting with her family and friends.

My cousin, Andrea, and I are both pregnant, so we had to get a photo together. Andrea is due in October and I am in December.

Two of my uncles came down from Michigan for the party. They wrote a special song for my grandma and sang it for her at her party. Of course, it brought tears to her eyes.

My grandma with 3 of her 4 kids.

Poplar Bluff Visit

Last week we took a trip to Poplar Bluff to visit family and attend my grandma's 80th birthday party. We all enjoyed swimming in my mom's pool. Kale is taking swimming lessons in a few weeks and is getting very good at putting his head in the water.

Playing in the pool with gram.

Kale loved hanging out with his grandpa. He was very interested in grandpa's facial hair.

My uncles also came to visit from Michigan. Kale got lots of attention!

This picture cracks me up! Kale is sitting in his float with his legs crossed, cruising around the pool. He loved watching the "big kids" swim.

Kale is very into fudgesicles these days.

Memorial Day Weekend

For Memorial Day, we went to the zoo and made a quick trip to Palo Duro Canyon. We also had bacon wrapped shrimp and steaks for dinner. Yum!

Kale's self-portrait

I was particularly enjoying this weekend because it was the start of my summer vacation!

Trip to the Zoo

For Memorial Day, we decided to make a trip to the zoo. This was Kale's first trip and let me tell you, the Amarillo zoo was exciting! It was actually more like a petting zoo than an actual zoo.

We got to see goats and sheep.

There were also horses and donkeys.

The tiger was probably the most exotic animal at the zoo...and this tiger was mean! Every time I've ever been to the zoo the tiger kind of hids out in the back of his cage and does his own thing. This tiger was right up against the fence. He kept growling at people and showing his teeth. He growled and jumped up on the fence several times. As you can see his cage is just a flimsy chain length fence. Every one watch the news--tiger outbreak at Amarillo zoo will be the next headline!

We got to see a cow!

Kale just enjoyed chilling in the stroller for our outing.